Category Archives: science

Why do people say race isn’t real? 

People who say “race isn’t real” do so because they are so unbelievably lazy that they are prepared to just spout a manifestly silly slogan rather than do the work of explaining what racists get wrong. They do this even … Continue reading

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Now We are Seven Billion! La, La, La

Despite the evident threat to the well being of our descendants some idiots keep asserting that the “Population bomb theory is a myth“. What complete nonsense! For one thing China’s “economic miracle” comes after 30 years of having a one … Continue reading

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Sustainable Energy Choices

Barry Brooks at ‘BraveNewClimate’ has made a brave effort at summing up the need for nuclear power as part of the CO2-free mix in a brief video, but parts of it still felt to me like “industry propaganda” – to the … Continue reading

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Twisted Language in Physics

From the discussion in Quantum Diaries, it seems that helicity is a property of motion and chirality a property of shape (where, in the case of an elementary particle, this might be represented by something like the shape of a level … Continue reading

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Creationism at the Royal Society

This would be old news but for the fact that the Royal Society’s president at the time was Martin Rees – who might now be seen by some as finally getting his reward for letting it happen.  On the other … Continue reading

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And They have the guns!

From Discover Magazine:

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Moral Realism

Sean Carroll has taken issue with Richard Carrier over the latter’s position on Moral Realism. On reading Carrier  I think that his real point is (or should be) that realism and relativism are not in conflict. Moral values, like the economic … Continue reading

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Algorithmic Babies and the Chinese Room

I commented at Stephen Downes’ website on Patricia Kuhl’s TED talk about “The Linguistic Genius of Babies”. My quibble was less with the content than with the sentimentalized headline, because, although the babies’ brains do appear to implement a sophisticated … Continue reading

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Defining Evolution

When I read the title of this piece (Theologians Lobby Successfully to Change Definition of Evolution | Cosmic Variance | Discover Magazine)I was prepared to get angry. But instead I am embarrassed on behalf of those who are complaining about … Continue reading

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“The Belief Instinct”

Jesse Bering’s “The Belief Instinct” is described as an exploration of possible sources of religion in cognitive tendencies towards a sense of being observed even when we have no evidence for it. To support this idea he reportedly both cites … Continue reading

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Christopher Norris Defends Philosophy

Christopher Norris has written an article in Philosophy Now defending the Philosophy of Science from allegations of its irrelevance by scientists (most recently Stephen Hawking for example).  Norris alleges the existence of “scientists’ need to philosophize and their proneness to … Continue reading

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Mythical Myths #3 – The Concept of Race

Oh damn! I had no particular wish to address this until browsing led me by chance to RACE – The Power of an Illusion at PBS where a bunch of well intentioned people are discrediting anti-racism by associating it with a … Continue reading

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Sunrise and Sunset at Solstices

It is curious that the days of shortest and longest periods of sunlight (which just about everyone knows are due to the tilt of the earth’s spin axis relative to the plane of its orbit)  are not everywhere the same … Continue reading

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The Chinese Room

Stephen Downes links to this notice about three free Philosophy courses from John Searle who is famous for his Chinese Room thought experiment.  Now Searle may be a great teacher, and the ‘Chinese Room’ may be a useful paedagogical device, … Continue reading

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Miraculous Magnetic Clowns

James McGirk, writing in 3quarksdaily, repeats the widely stated claim that the Insane Clown Posse display inexcusable ignorance when they claim, in their song ‘Miracles’, to be mystified by magnets. One line in particular snagged the world’s attention: “Water, fire, … Continue reading

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The Inheritors of What?

A new book by Eric Kaufmann entitled Shall the Religious Inherit the Earth?: Demography and Politics in the Twenty-First Century is

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The Myth of Separate Magisteria | Big Questions Online

The Myth of Separate Magisteria | Big Questions Online. The main problem (aside from its pretentious name) with Stephen Jay Gould’s concept of “Non-overlapping Magisteria” as a resolution of the “conflict” between science and religion is the fact that many … Continue reading

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Who Needs Saving?

It is disappointing to see a supposedly sophisticated voice of religion still so literalistic.

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Back From the Future

An article in DISCOVER Magazine discusses an apparent influence of the decision to make later measurements on the results of earlier ones. But then it turns out that the effect persists even when the later measurement is not recorded. Such … Continue reading

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Who’s a Dick?

In his writings[1] Dick Feynman was never a dick (except perhaps in the eyes of those responsible for security during the Manhattan Project), and Dick Dawkins is not usually a dick but sometimes he comes close. I suspect that I … Continue reading

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